Sooners Use Fast Start to Blow Out Baylor

Oklahoma turned in its best road performance of the season in a 29-point win.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:03 pm

By: News On 6

Sooners Use Fast Start to Blow Out Baylor

Originally Published: Nov 20, 2010 10:36 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

WACO, Texas – The Oklahoma Sooners put together their most dominant performance on the road all season Saturday in a 53-24 blowout of Baylor.

Quarterback Landry Jones had by far his best road game of the season, passing for 325 yards and three touchdowns. DeMarco Murray led the team in both rushing and receiving, amassing a total of 182 yards on 19 touches.

The defense also shut down the passing game of Baylor (7-5, 4-4), holding quarterback Robert Griffin to just 124 passing yards, his worst showing of the season. The Sooners (9-2, 5-2) also forced three turnovers, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Ronnell Lewis for the team’s first defensive score of the year.

OU’s only adversity came in the fourth quarter, as has become a trend throughout the season. The Sooners allowed 14 points in the fourth, the only quarter in which they were outscored. Running back Roy Finch also took a hard hit to the head and stayed down on the field for several minutes.

The OU training staff tested Finch for concussion symptoms as the game went on, but there was nothing definitive on his condition before the game ended. After the game, Finch could be seen jogging on his own and laughing with his teammates.

Head coach Bob Stoops said he was not sure about Finch's condition, but offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson went into slightly more detail.

“He looked better than I thought he would, but we’ll have to wait and see if it’ll be something that will be a while," Wilson said. "But he looked pretty good to me.”

Before hitting those fourth-quarter struggles, the Sooners caught almost every break.

Baylor’s first drive was killed by a false start on what appeared to be a fake punt, and after OU took over the Bears failed to cover Murray on a simple swing pass. Murray caught the pass and sprinted up the sidelines for a 76-yard touchdown to give OU a 7-0 lead.

On its next drive, Baylor attempted a fourth-down conversion from its own 33-yard line and failed, giving OU great field position. The Sooners capitalized with a four-play drive capped by a 13-yard touchdown run by Murray to take a 14-point lead.

The Baylor defense managed to stop OU on its next offensive possession, but the Sooners got yet another break when Baylor muffed a punt and OU recovered. The Sooners took over inside the 10-yard line, and needed only one play – an impressive run by Finch – to score their third touchdown and take a commanding 21-0 led at the end of the first quarter.

Baylor got on the board with a touchdown pass on its first drive of the second quarter, but the Sooners responded with a touchdown of their own on a 5-yard pass from Landry Jones to Ryan Broyles to stretch the lead back to 28-7. Jimmy Stevens added two field goals to finish the scoring in the first half, and the game was never close after that.

The Sooners’ victory ended a two-game road losing streak and kept them alive for the Big 12 South title. They will stay on the road again next week against Oklahoma State in a game that will determine which team plays for the conference championship.